The Game of Perfection - A Set Design Game

[Natural Breakthrough]
Sorcery
Choose one - Destroy target artifact, or search your library for a basic land card and put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle your library.
Entwine

Mind Mages
One set in design. One Fantasy From the Vaults in Design.Modding since 11-05-12

Sun, 2011-06-12 02:31

hooliganj

Cultivated Wilds
Sorcery
Choose one - Gain life equal to the converted mana cost of target artifact; or destroy target artifact.
Entwine Every chaotic leaf, bramble, stem and branch in its proper place.

I started with the idea that elves living in a forest must do some form of horticulture, yet it still ends up looking like an overgrown woodland to anyone else who comes along. That produced the name, which seemed to indicate a duality of approaches to the wild vs order theme, thus the artifact love/hate effect. I didn't start out to make an entwine card, but it worked out that way.

And yes, I note that others have already put the artifact hate on the entwine card.

-- Edit: Changed the text order. I didn't think of that, thanks Guitarweeps. (In Shadowfist, this effect would have memorized the cost of the target when it generated, so the text order isn't as important.)

-- Edit 2: Changed to Sorcery to match the rest of the cycle, changed the text format to match Entwine cards in general.

@hooligan - Not sure if you know that cards resolve in the order they are written so if you cast this trying to target the same artifact twice the second ability would fizzle. I think that was not your intent. It would work if you simply switched the written order of the two effects. Not sure if we are allowed to do that here though.

With this being the halfway point, with next week's challenge I'll also host what we have so far in image form. This will be a look at how the first half of the contest has shaped the set, as well as give a look at the set before we get into the finer points of the design.

Will we get current standings as well? I tried to count them up on my own, and well, I don't envy you...

Group Harvest
Sorcery
Search your library for up to X basic lands, where X is equal to the number of creatures you control. Put one of those lands onto the battlefield tapped and the rest into your hand.Those who live upon the land must help the land to live.

My 'Stuff hub'
I really hate Mythic Rares...
TRUE METAL OR NO METAL AT ALL
NO TOLERANCE FOR WIMPY FALSE METAL

Sun, 2011-06-12 09:37

Xera_the_Enigma

{{Nature's Call}}
Sorcery
Whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to an opponent this turn, you may search your library for a basic land card, put that card onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle your library."Nature's voice can be heard anywhere you just have to listen for it."

the mana cost for this card seemed to be the hardest thing for me to balance, but i finally settled on a cmc of 5 which felt like a decent fit 6 mana felt like too much and 4 mana was definitely too cheap for this card to be an uncommon though i almosted gave it overrun's mana cost. all in all i think it came out pretty well

Sun, 2011-06-12 21:24

Guitarweeps

Head Administrator

Hunter's Call
Instant
Choose one - Put a 3/3 green Beast creature token onto the battlefield; or put three 1/1 green Elf Warrior creature tokens onto the battlefield.
Entwine - sacrifice a creature.Predators in the <insert name of location> come in many shapes and sizes. All are equally deadly.

I chose to go with entwining token generation. I originally had planned on an entwine of which would have been balanced I think. I chose to switch it to sac a creature which usually is really strange in green; hasn't really been seen since Jund. But it really fit the flavor of the card (your sac'd creauture was hunted and killed by either the beast or the elves) and really fit well with memorial. Made it instant for better effect and combat tricks since four mana for three power is not something to brag about says Bestial Menace.

Just a heads up everybody: we've got tons and tons of pump cards here, but not a lot of other things green needs. Be sure to check the included link to see what green typically needs to function. Doing something somebody hasn't already submitted would help your chances greatly.

Tue, 2011-06-14 16:03

windandfire

[Good Omen] -
Sorcery
Search your library for a basic land card and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Shuffle your library.
You gain 2 life for each land you control.

Last call for entries. Partial reveal and this week's winners go up tomorrow at 7PM instead of midnight, because I have to be to work 4 hours early Thursday on what was supposed to be my day off, haha.

Wed, 2011-06-15 04:23

Sgmendez of Golgari

[Vine Snare] -
Sorcery
Search your library for a land card and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Shuffle your library.
If that land was a forest, tap target creature with flying.

"If you can't enjoy what you're doing, don't do it."
Proud member of the Golgari Swarm

Alright, everything including winners for this week will be in the first post as images shortly. The winners this week were hooliganj, Picks-at-Flies, Sewn-Eye, Cthulhupwn, windandfire, and GENERALTANK99. Congrats guys!

CURRENT CHALLENGE:

Challenge structure has been bumped by one, and I've brought 19 forward to now, previously blank, to be used to help fill in reprints and discuss the possible inclusion of Baru.

Quote:

11th: Reprints. Suggest 3 reprints for the set, any rarity. One must be a planeswalker, and no legendary creatures, colored artifacts, or hybrids. All rules of what isn't going in the set still apply. Also give opinion "yes" or "no" if Baru, Fist of Krosa should be reprinted. If yes, this would give us another pseudokeyword to build on. Right now I've included him in the set, but if a majority want him and Grandeur out, then I'll remove him.

Eleventh deadline is June 22nd, 11:59PM CST.

Thu, 2011-06-16 09:57

Anuttymous

Are we reprinting a planeswalker card, then, or redoing a planeswalker with a new card?

For Baru, I'm a bit adverse to having two pseudo keywords - memorial and grandeur, but it might be nice to bring it back.
In a word, no, as I think there are better non-pseudo keywords from other cards.

I don't know if I like Baru. The problem is that his ability makes differently sized tokens of the same type from one card. I used to play a Treefolk deck that produced 4 kinds of tokens that I didn't have in paper, so it got quite problematic to control. This card produces different tokens in itself. I assume it would be ok at rare, but I'm uncertain whether he's good to go for a post-Future Sight set. Regardless; I'd love if Grandeur is in because I love legends and never had a chance to play with it. My point is: If this were to be a real, perfect set, I'd include Grandeur, and probably a new version of Baru, but not this card. The X's should've been *'s, it would have been sooo much less complicated. That's what newbs assume regardless.

Thu, 2011-06-16 15:43

New Kind of Christ

For the planeswalker: You already have plans for a white and a black Planeswalker. That rules out Ajani and Liliana. Especially since Liliana is going to be in Inistrad. I say we use Nicol Bolas, since he is the only planeswalker without a form in current standard(other then...Nissa, who would cause a reprint of Nissa's Chosen). Then again, Sarkhan is soon rotating out, and he seems to be a fun character to play with. They both seem like good choices.

Baru seems like a fun card to play with, and we could use grandeur for the other legends. However, in time spiral, I am assuming Grandeur was flavorful since Baru would have been alive in a different scenario, and he is discarded for the current Baru. That is a guess, I don't really know. So reprint of Baru? Why not, if my reasoning is false?

Alms for a dinky card to use if you used a lot of memorial and need to survive.

Thu, 2011-06-16 16:45

copapoc

i say no baru. he's packing a whole keywordslot with him, wich chould be used on an actual keyword, instead of another pseudo, as mentioned before.

i second Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker, although a reprinted walker in a set like this doesn't seem to fit. i'd prefer a third original walker.

as for the other two, i'd say nekrataal at common and Magma giant at uncommon. both cards where underpowerd, and to add them in on a lower rarity shall make limited a blast, and add to the limited experience. also magma giant and shaman of the orb make for cool interaction

Thu, 2011-06-16 16:49

hooliganj

I'm happy my card was chosen, but sad that I can't really contribute to this week's challenge. Excellent work on the set so far, Art_Freak.

EDIT: Hmm. Just wondering, for Challenge 14 (the planeswalker one) could I make a Kiora planeswalker?

EDIT2: Just realized. Putting Landfall in would be such a no-no. So, instead... Overrun... I mean, people are always saying that you need an overrun effect in each set... but they don't actually reprint it... It was in 2010, but that's not standard anymore.

PhasingThis phases in or out before you untap during each of your untap steps. While it's phased out, it's treated as though it doesn't exist.Set Hub

Thu, 2011-06-16 20:03

TheAmazingKamahl

No Baru, personally, and I think that either of these three should fill a spot as classics:

Spoiler:

Cancel. Who hasn't used a Cancel in one deck? The nice, clean borderline for counter spells.Giant Growth. Also, who hasn't used the old instant big guys trick? I have!
Finally, Lightning Bolt The basic red burn spell. BASIC.

"Too wary to charge, too prudent to serve. Not anymore."
—Sedris, the Traitor King

Fri, 2011-06-17 02:53

Art_Freak

Ah, I'm sorry for the confusion guys. I meant a reprint planeswalker as in a planeswalker we've seen before, not a new one. It will get a whole new card. Just looking for suggestions and kind of a majority opinion on which one to go with. As for the reprints, 6 of the selected will be chosen as winners. And Baru - that's fine if nobody wants him in, I just thought he might fit in revisiting Otaria, but maybe a new version of him?, or leave him for another custom set to make use of?

Fri, 2011-06-17 05:03

lord_joakim

I'd love to see Baru again. Just not the card from Future Sight.

If we are to suggest a Planeswalker, I'd love to see Sarkhan Vol, as he's just that awesome. Sarkhan vs Baru would be fun too.

Fri, 2011-06-17 05:06

copapoc

if that's the case:
baru as a new legend ? jes sir, thank you.
as a NEW planeswalker, i'd like to see a mono-color bolas then

Fri, 2011-06-17 05:31

Nerameshu

New Baru, I agree. New Planeswalker... Well, if you're going to make a new Baru, what about him being the new 'Walker? Of course, if not, I'd like a new Gideon.

2012

Since he's in the new core set, I'd like to see a different incarnation.

Mind Mages
One set in design. One Fantasy From the Vaults in Design.Modding since 11-05-12

Fri, 2011-06-17 09:26

Nikeyeia

I'm with copapoc on this one. Baru as a new legend, and a mono-colored Bolas. Hopefully, Bolas will be less costy.

(∩_∩)

Fri, 2011-06-17 21:14

SarkhanVol

Yes, Baru should be in the set, but it should be different. Sarkhan should come to the set, too. This isn't because my ID is SarkhanVol, it's because I haven't seen him lately. And I agree with TheAmazingKamahl, who hasn't played with a cancel or a giant growth? These two are necessary in any set, they're classics!!

Fri, 2011-06-17 21:33

New Kind of Christ

They are classics with room for flavorful variants. We just had a challenge for boost spells. Cancel is the same, we made a bunch of counter spells already.

Fri, 2011-06-17 21:47

Sewn-Eye

They're classics because they're reprinted time and time again in Core sets (with good reason). There's a really good reason we don't see Lightning Bolt or Giant Growth printed in expert-level expansions. Cancel is actually kinda new, so I'm not too sure about that one.

"Too wary to charge, too prudent to serve. Not anymore."
—Sedris, the Traitor King

Fri, 2011-06-17 22:23

hooliganj

I feel safe pointing this out, since I have no stake this week --

This is still a competition thread, not a group design. You shouldn't opine about other's selections.

Also, there's no point in choosing something that was already nominated - they're already on the list.

hooliganj is spot on guys. For the reprints, try and suggest your own. For the planeswalker, choose anyone even one already chosen - majority wins on that one. For the comments on other's suggestions... don't. It's not meant to be mean, but it's the reality that this is still a competition, and with a challenge based on opinion: everyone is entitled to their own.

@hooliganj: If you want to compete this week, even without knowing tons about Magic, go here and you can search ideas based on effects and types and whatnot in advanced search, or even just hit "Random" to display a random card until you find some you like that you think would work in the set. I'd hate to see anyone excluded from the competition for any reason really.

Fri, 2011-06-17 23:53

Guitarweeps

Head Administrator

I don't think we are competing with the planeswalker or Baru. I think he is looking for majority opinion on those. Just the two non-planeswalker reprints.

My vote for Baru is a yes. I have always thought of grandeur as a legendary creature ability although it would be cool to use on some commons for limited. I don't think it is too late though, we still have some slots to fill.
Anyways, the reason I like Baru is because he mechanically interacts well with Baru's Gaze, Krosan Naturalist, Krosan Warden, and Timbercharge Beast. Additionally, the granduer mechanic opens some doors for Curse of the Black Spot and Banishment of Rememberence.

I vote for Bolas as the planeswalker as we are returning to Dominaria and he has some history there.

For my two reprints I would suggest:

Abyssal Gatekeeper
Creature - Horror Memorial - When Abyssal Gatekeeper dies, each player sacrifices a creature.There is good reason not to go beyond this gate.
1/1

I think a one-of horror along with our vamps and gorgons is most welcome. Especially such a thematic one like this.

Been following this for a bit. I love what has been done, but I have to say that including Baru and the Grandeur mechanic would be a mistake. While he does fit the bill for a green legend from Dominaria, the other four colors get something awesome. Green always gets the short end of the stick anyway, so why give the other four colors something cool and new and then give green a barely playable reprint legend?

In terms of reprints, I'd like to see Venser back as a planeswalker. He makes sense for the setting (so would Karn, honestly.) I agree on needing another counterspell at uncommon, but I'd rather see Remand make a comeback. Also, I'd cry if Abyssal Gatekeeper didn't make it. Wouldn't have thought to suggest it, but I remember it being a favorite of mine back when Weatherlight was actually relevant.

my reprints: 1st aphetto dredging works well with memorial and also refrences a part of dominaria (though im not sure how close the aphetto swamp is to otaria.) so it could fit flavorwise. my next reprint is nature's lore it helps baru's first ability and is one of my favorite ramp spells